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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 214 (2015) 1147 – 1155

Worldwide trends in the development of education and academic research, 15 - 18 June 2015

Innovative Education in Russia: The Basic Tendencies Analysis

Andrey Vorontsov, Elena Vorontsova*
Law Faculty of Southwest State University, st. 50 let Oktyabra, 94, Kursk 305040, Russian Federation

Abstract

The article deals with the basic tendencies in higher education in Russia. It is emphasized that the notion innovativeness in
education should not be interpreted only in connection with new teaching modes, as it includes innovative objectives and
educational syllabus, except using innovations. It is shown that a complex and integrated understanding of innovativeness helps
to reform Russian education in line with the demands of the information-oriented society.
Three basic ways for the innovative development of the higher education in Russia are given: 1. the realization of the
competence-based model in vocational training; 2. the use of information technologies in education; 3. the creation of innovative
educational institutions aiming innovative development.
Active and interactive teaching methods used in higher education are characterized. The peculiarities of cross-disciplinary
integration are identified. The article gives an analysis of the reasons of underdevelopment of information technologies of
innovational educational institutions organization.
© 2015
© 2015TheTheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by by Elsevier
Elsevier Ltd.Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of: Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), Sofia, Bulgaria & International Research
Peer-review
Center (IRC) under responsibility
‘Scientific of: Bulgarian
Cooperation’, Comparative Education
Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Society (BCES), Sofia, Bulgaria & International Research
Center (IRC) ‘Scientific Cooperation’, Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
Keywords: Innovativeness; education; infrastructure; integration; information; technologies

1. Introduction

Within the context of the civilization development, the new system of social interaction and the new attitude to
the outworld are provided. As a result, the model of society gradually changes and necessitates the transformation of
its essential aspects.
One of the aspects is information. Being the main fund and a strategic reserve for the development of the society,
information is able to ensure the existence of living and future generations.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +7-910-216-3676

E-mail address: proskyrinae@mail.ru

1877-0428 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of: Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), Sofia, Bulgaria & International Research
Center (IRC) ‘Scientific Cooperation’, Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.731
1148 Andrey Vorontsov and Elena Vorontsova / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 214 (2015) 1147 – 1155

It is no coincidence that modern society is characterized as being information-oriented one. However,

information can provide progress only in case it has been fully assimilated and if it can form the basis of actions. In
other words, information should grow into personal knowledge.
Nowadays, the amount of the incoming information expands and becomes more complicated at a growing rate.
Information acquires brand new features and requires from people quick decision-making in unusual situations.
Under the influence of the information flow, peopleಬs attitudes, ideas, technologies and patterns of behavior change.
As a result, every man, being the subject of all the above-mentioned aspects, also changes.
In this process, the value of education (first of all, of the higher education), which is a sphere where knowledge is
created, is difficult to be overestimated. In the context of current global changes, education is intended to
accomplish the task of universal significance. It is supposed to form a new type of human formation, i.e. a man (a
person) with a certain type of consciousness who provides a demonstrated ability to innovate, to identify the need
for novelty, to find it and to use it in various spheres of society. Representatives of professional personnel who
possess above-mentioned qualities are able to become the reinventors and the organizers of innovation activity.
High-tech is a priori an innovative technology based on the knowledge and intellectual innovations, called all
over the world human potential. The “education is the basis and the form of the development of this potential, since
it ensures expanded reproduction through the system of stuff training in all the sectors of the economy, tax, finance
and other sectors of society” (Krasheninnikov, 2008). Another authors point out that “education, being a form of
intellectual capital of the nation and one of the main areas for production of innovations, creates the basic conditions
for the rapid growth of the markets, based on a rapid renewal of technologies and products system. This fact is the
first link of the innovation chain “education-research-venture projects-the development of mass innovation”
(Remorenko, Kuzminov, Rudnik, Frumin, Yakobson, 2008).
According to the statement of the leaders of the Group of Eight (2006), education, research and innovation form
the basis of an innovative society. Among these three elements, education is mentioned the first, because it underlies
innovative development.

2. Objectives, methodology and research design

The purpose of the research is formulated in the title of this article and consists in the analysis of the basic trends
in the development of innovative education in Russia.
As a part of the study, the authors applied general management principles, objectivity concept, and the principle
of accuracy of the opinions expressed.
The first stage was to define the meaning and the relation of the basic terms connected to the research problem.
This stage has an important place in the structure of the article, as it determines the authors’ opinion concerning the
subject of the research. Being the subject of the research, innovativeness in education is connected not only to the
use of advanced training techniques in education, but also with the change of objectives and education syllabus in
general.
The purpose of the research at this point was achieved by using the rational method. In addition, the conclusion
about the inability of Russian universities graduates to put the knowledge and skills into practice is based on the
results of opinion polls carried out by the authors.
The second stage was to highlight the basic directions of teaching methods, information technology and
administrative and organizational activities, influenced by innovative changes in Russian education. Implementation
of competency-based vocational education; development of basic information technologies to education; creation of
innovative educational institutions are the main ideas of the education.
Innovative trends in education, marked by the authors, are significant both as a part of knowledge and the base
for the further research of the authors who are interested in the problem characteristics of each of these trends.
The third stage of the study is an analysis of active and interactive teaching modes, most frequently applied in
educational practice of Russian universities. In addition, at this stage, the authors pay attention to the problems of
cross-disciplinary integration and the development of integrated educational modes aimed at the formation of
professional competencies.
 Andrey Vorontsov and Elena Vorontsova / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 214 (2015) 1147 – 1155 1149

Except the descriptive method used to characterize the teaching innovations, the authors applied logical methods
and the method of language interpretation of the research literature and regulatory legal acts, in order to formulate
the notion of competence. In addition, at this stage the problem method of presentation was used.
The fourth stage was devoted to the analysis of the implementation of information technologies in higher
education in Russia. Research, based on statistical studies, has concluded an insufficient development of this
innovative trend. At the same time, the traits of successful development of the Russian information technology were
marked. At this stage the authors also used a simplified summary method to present the psycho-physiological
processes, forming the base for the functioning of the interactive dynamic simulators used in Russia.
The final stage of the study is devoted to characterize organizational models of innovative educational institutions
in the Russia. The comparative method, the system-functional method and the method of structural analysis were
applied at this stage.

3. Discussion of the research outcomes

3.1. Innovativeness in education: structure, subject-matter, basic tendencies

In case education is regarded as a certain kind of sequence of operations, innovativeness will mean the
introduction of innovations into the educational process. As a result, the efficiency of education will be significantly
advanced, and new cognitive tasks will be decided in the context of the educational process. Such an understanding
of innovativeness in education is the most common in Russian professional community and forms the basis for the
concept innovative education, which is popular in modern Russia.
However, using of new (innovative) training methods, in the opinion of the authors, goes beyond the concept
innovativeness, which has a more profound meaning. The meaning of the concept should be structured, as
misunderstanding of certain processes in education slows down or even eliminates the possibility of educational
reforming (which is a common trait of educational reforming in Russia, for example in case of implementation of
the Bologna Process).
In the authors’ opinion, innovativeness in the educational activity involves the following:
1. New goals and objectives of education. This element of the meaning of innovativeness in education can be
explained by the question “What to teach?”
Diversified methods to present educational material, modes of involving students in the process of learning and
other educational innovations lose their meaning without defining the strategic targets, specifying the meaning and
content of the educational activity.
In the context of global transformations, taking place in the contemporary society, the main purpose of staff
training should be to prepare personnel ready to adapt to fast-changing conditions, able to unlock the creative and
intellectual capacity potential based on knowledge. It involves the personality formation with an innovative mind
and way of thinking.
2. The new educational content. The main idea of this part of educational innovativeness is “What to teach?”. The
educational content depends on and logically relates to the educational objectives. Formation of a person with a new
type of thinking, able for innovativeness, making decisions in unusual situations and solving problems, requires a
change in the educational content. Thus, a new knowledge structure and amount, development of new skills that are
required to be in line with the emergence of new types of professional activities, redistribution of teaching hours
from simple knowledge broadcasting to formation of skills, etc. should be worked out.
The main problem of professional education in Russia is the inability of recent graduates to put the acquired
knowledge and skills into practice. This opinion is expressed by employers and graduates during the annual public
opinion survey conducted by the authors of the article. Thus, recent graduates do not have enough qualities to be
considered as professional ones.
Nowadays, professional training course syllabus does not include traits of professional personal development and
externship in sufficient volumes. In this context, it is not possible to speak about successful future professional
adaptation of the students. Nevertheless, professional adaptation training should allow the students to understand if
1150 Andrey Vorontsov and Elena Vorontsova / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 214 (2015) 1147 – 1155

their career choice has been right. This process also provides their promotion from being a student to being a skilled
practitioner.
However, currently, professional training course syllabus is characterized by dominating of theoretical skills over
hands-on experience.
3. New modes of teaching. The element of teaching modes the answer to the question “How to teach?”. In the
context of innovative society, teaching modes should correspond to innovative ideas in education.
At the same time, the need to form personal and professional qualities assuming the students’ independence in
decision-making, the ability to act in difficult situations and the ability for individual study should be taken into
account. The vector of development of teaching modes should be changed from the question of “How to teach?” to
the question “How teach students to study?”. In these circumstances, the role of the teacher should change. In the
context of innovative teaching modes, the main teacher’s task is the help to the students in setting and achievement
of long-term educational goals. Another teacher’s aim is to organize the educational process taking into account the
possibility for students’ cognitive interests development. In general, activation and motivation of cognitive activity
should become the cornerstone of innovative teaching modes.
In the author’s opinion, innovative approach, being basic in the modern education, should be based on the unity
of these three components. The attempts to associate the concept of innovation with only one of these components
(for example, only with new teaching modes) leads to the substitution of the notion innovation, as it turns into a
simple improvement of existing educational patterns.
At the same time, the innovativeness in the higher education in Russia is currently represented by three major
trends:
x Competence-based model in vocational training;
x The use of information technology;
x The creation of innovative educational institutions.

3.2. Competence-based model realization

In the context of the implementation of competence-based model into vocational training, the objective
requirements of the modern labor market suppose the importance of generic skills instead of segmental ones (which
Russian education has been based on for a long time). The meaning of generic skills consists in the ability to solve
professional problems and conflicts arising from professional and life challenges.
Currently, Federal State Educational Standards of higher education in Russia supposes the formation of a specific
set of competencies. This opinion is based on the idea of so-called life competence, first studied in detail in the
researches of German scientists R. Herzog (1998), K. Brand (2000), A. Scheunpflug (2000).
In general, the set of qualities forming life competence includes independence, ability to open relations, readiness
to take responsibility, creativity, the ability to express one’s own opinion, the ability to perceive, tolerance, openness
to the world and culture, the ability to remain calm, as a psychological quality allowing to solve problems. This
approach to understanding the essence of the notion competence as a set of interrelated socially significant qualities
of the person prevails in the educational practice in Russia.
Russian educational standards contain no basic definition of competence. At the same time, they are divided into
general professional competence, common cultural one, special ones, etc. Having generalized the interpretation of
their meanings, the notion competence in Russia can be expressed as a personal ability to solve a certain kind of
professional tasks and readiness for professional work in a particular area.
It should be noted that in the current context all kinds of professional activity require a synthesis of knowledge
and its multiple application in the professional experience. At the same time, isolation and lack of integration of the
subjects, existing today in higher education, are the reasons for the fragmentation of the graduates’ mindset and for
their limited professional outlook. In this regard, a cross-disciplinary integration would help to overcome the
fragmentation noted above and to develop the necessary set of skills.
As a rule, cross-disciplinary integration is carried out in Russian universities in the form of integrated courses and
modular learning system. There was even the term integrated education. However, integrated and modular learning
courses are spreading mainly in the field of science and technology education. Education in the humanities mostly
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remains beyond the framework of this trend. As a result, the educational material of different disciplines is often
reduplicated. Besides, the isolation of these disciplines does not allow connecting them and implementing
consistency concept in the process cognitive activity. A similar opinion was expressed by A. Fischer (2000), a
German researcher justifies that “... in the center of didactic concepts, focused on the development of the ability to
act, there is knowledge or the ability to acquire knowledge ...”.
Going back to the previous opinion, it should be noted that the cross-disciplinary integration contributes to the
education completely innovative ways of different processes of evaluation. As a result, much broader perspectives
of knowledge are created. This idea is proved by a German scientist A. Scheunpflug (2000): “Different perspectives
should be used to analyze the events. Changing perspectives contributes primarily to an interdisciplinary and
international outlook.”
An important feature of the development of integrated education system in Russia should be noted. The fact is
that the attempts for cross-disciplinary integration are made under the conditions of refusal of single-disciplines (this
idea generally corresponds to the concept of formation of a person with a new type of thinking, capable of diverse
activities, which is one of the traits of integrated education). Meanwhile, the main strategy of many educational
institutions is still the aspiration for the development of single-disciplines. Concerning the last sentence, it should be
noted that the development of single-disciplines as the principal strategy of Russian higher education institutions is
expressed even by the management of the Institute of Russian Academy of Education (Krasheninnikov, 2008).
In fact, some would say that a paradox emerges in Russian higher education. On the one hand, there is an
integration of disciplines mastered by expanding of the acquired competencies. On the other hand, higher education
institutions attempt to focus on the development of special fields of knowledge. Meanwhile, the formation of new
enlarged areas of training is accompanied by the emergence of new professions which are based on a narrow
specialization.
Touching upon the issue of the paradoxical nature of Russian higher education, the authors of the article note
that, actually, there is no paradox. The above-mentioned trends approve the aspiration to reform educational system
in Russia on the basis of innovative trends, at the same time accumulating previous positive experience.
Unfortunately, using completely different ways of reforming simultaneously is typical for such a cumbersome
system as Russian education. In the meantime, education in Russia is facing the need of radical modernization, but
numerous circumstances do not allow a quick and painless reforming. Such circumstances include, for example, the
uneven development of the industry provoking changing nature of demand for workers of a particular qualification;
lack of financial resources; infrastructure problems, including the educational one; problems of organization and
management in many educational institutions.
Returning to the issue of cross-disciplinary education, it should be noted that it cannot be accomplished without
the use of active and interactive teaching methods. The Federal State Educational Standard of higher education in
Russia (2010) requires a widespread use of active and interactive forms in the learning process in conjunction with
the extracurricular work. The main purpose of this is formation and development of professional skills of students.
In case of implementation of active forms of teaching, students become active participants of learning, doing
creative tasks and being involved in a dialogue with the teacher.
Interactive training is also a dialogue and a special form of organization of cognitive activity in which all the
students in a group are involved in the learning process. Both the student and the teacher are the subjects of the
educational process. The methods used in interactive training are aimed to ensure the activity and diversity of
students’ mind.
As for the experience of the Russian higher education institutions, “brainstorming” is one of the most widely
used interactive methods of training. As a method of systematic training of creative thinking, brainstorming is an
individual creativity technique by which efforts are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a
list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members. There are also such methods as mini-lectures, problem
lectures, lectures, press conferences, lectures containing mistakes, case studies, meetings with representatives of
employers, workshops of experts and specialists, project development, etc.
The implementation of role and business games is also an important part of modern education. “The using of
didactic, role and business games, is an example of integrated forms of education which contributes to the activity of
students in the classroom” (Gruzkova, Muravyova, Choshanov, 2013).
1152 Andrey Vorontsov and Elena Vorontsova / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 214 (2015) 1147 – 1155

The value of interactive games as a way to integrative education, aimed at the students’ interpersonal
communication is very important. Russian researchers in teaching S.Y. Gruzkova, E.V. Muravyova and M.A.
Choshanov (2013) think that “integrative games have a great difference from other teaching modes. Professional
relationships simulated in the context of the games provide the future involvement of the students into professional
environment and contribute to the development of their ability to act quickly in difficult situations and organize
social interaction in the team”.
Gaming simulation is also an interactive educational method in which a particular process is simulated, or a
particular model is created. In the future, it should help the modeling of real processes. One of the ways is
performance in the role of the teacher (this method is widely used in Russia, not only in higher education, but at
primary schools). Interviews, various presentations using electronic board, books, videos, slides, flip charts, posters,
etc are also used.
These methods provide the implementation of the competency-based approach and involve cooperative learning.
At the same time, they have a personality-oriented nature, as a teacher in this case organizes the conditions under
which the students work themselves. In these circumstances, knowledge and skills are formed on the basis of the
student's own experience and the experience of his classmates.

3.3. Information technologies in education

The use of information technology should be marked as the next step in the development of innovativeness in
education. Besides, information technology contributes to any of the interactive teaching methods outlined above.
Obviously, the use of information technology training is an independent method of interactive learning,
implementing competence models in education.
In Russia, the use of information technology training is related to the development of distance learning which
began in the mid 90s of the 20th century. During these years, Russian universities have become participants of the
education market. Distance learning was the best way to attract students from different parts of the vast territory of
the country in the context of the lack of adequate educational infrastructure. Thus, information technologies
originally were the means of communication between the teacher and the student in terms of their physical distance
from each other. Much later they were developed as a way to improve the effectiveness of teaching.
Currently, Russian universities attempt to introduce computer-based training systems, electronic textbooks and
reference books. Virtual environment, digital training videos and sound recordings, electronic libraries are created.
With As for the latter, the authors of the article admit that there are serious legal problems obstructing the
development of libraries. For example, there is the lack of clear legal regulation that takes into account the private
interests of authors and rights holders; no solution to the question of remote access to library resources. In addition,
in Russia there are no universal software development, providing access to the funds of the readers of libraries and
electronic resources of the university.
There is a difference in the provision of information and educational technologies between large federal
universities and regional universities. While educational programs in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov,
Yekaterinburg, Kazan and other cities are largely supplied with information and digital software, the regional
universities are limited in this context and information technologies are there used only for the purposes of
evaluation, especially in the context of humanitarian subjects.
Meanwhile, breakthroughs sometimes happen to the development and implementation of innovative learning
technologies in Russian regional universities. For example, educational online services have been significantly
developed in Southwest State University. A library of dynamic interactive simulators «Mentor» was worked out at
the Department of Innovation Management a few years ago. It has no analogues in Russia, or abroad. These data
simulators are a tool for practical development of economic and management disciplines. They help students learn
to think in models based on complex cognitive information technologies for practical application of modern
quantitative methods and management systems of innovations in enterprises.
The operating principle of these simulators is based on the particular features of the cerebral cortex, which are
known to have a layered structure. Human readable images (this occurs in the lower layers of the cerebral cortex)
are moving from layer to layer, combined and compressed up to the formation of concepts and the formulation of
 Andrey Vorontsov and Elena Vorontsova / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 214 (2015) 1147 – 1155 1153

hypotheses (in the upper layers of the cerebral cortex). This process is the so-called associative mechanism is the
physical basis of creativity and intuition. Therefore, the development of these qualities is extremely important for
the improvement of associative mechanism. Intelligent training simulators «Mentor» are created to activate the
above mentioned interaction, because they use the dynamic model simulations. Training through simulation helps
the interaction mechanisms of associations and generalizations by eliminating unnecessary intermediate
transcending images (Kabanov & Kuzhel, 2010).
Obviously, the dynamic simulators “Mentor” of series “Economy”, “Marketing” are now widely used in more
than 50 universities in Russia and the CIS. This fact indicates a relatively high potential of Russian regional
universities in the development of information technology education. No coincidence that many European,
American and Chinese universities are now actively cooperating with their Russian colleagues at the regional level.
However, the above-mentioned achievements in the development of innovative educational technologies are not
common in Russia. Unfortunately, according to numerous surveys, no more than 20 percent of higher education
programs in Russia are supported by digital educational resources and methods of their use (Gruzkova, 2014).
The leading causes of this are the following:
x The lack of coordination of actions to improve the quality of learning with the use of information technology.
Problems with the improving of regulatory, organizational, methodological and resource support.
x Universities use software products that are based on different standards. This process makes effective exchange
of information between universities more difficult. As a result, integration into the global e-learning system
implemented on the basis of international standards is also obstructed.
x The lack of preparation of teachers for using educational information technologies.
However, the enriching impact of the information educational technologies is estimated in Russia. New
technologies lead education to a new level of innovation, providing the perception of information through several
channels of communication and, consequently, increasing its efficiency.
Innovative education is impossible without the creation of appropriate infrastructure. This involves a lot of work
associated with the development of technology transfer centers created on the basis of public research centers,
institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, branch institutes and higher education institutions of the Russian
Federation. Important steps of development are the following: the creation of extra-budgetary funds of federal
executive authorities, to finance innovation; the development of procedures for obtaining specialized scientific
organizations and institutions of higher education funds collected as a result of the state's participation in regional
venture capital funds; the implementation of a multi-level system of training, retraining and advanced training of
specialists for the innovation to the field of education, science and industry.
The above-mentioned activities are aimed to integrate the basic science, the educational process and the
production activity. The process of integration creates the conditions for the emergence of new knowledge, in other
words it creates an innovative environment.

3.4. Models of innovative infrastructure

A special place in the development of innovative environment is occupied by a new type of organizations –
Science Cities. The number of the latter in Russia is currently growing. Science Cities can be analogies for Silicon
Valley in the United States. This kind of “technology valleys” has been formed in Skolkovo, Obninsk, Troitsk,
Zhukovsky, Dubna and elsewhere. Specialized universities that combine features of educational institutions and the
Science Cities will provide the innovative processes. The International University of Nature, Society and Man can
be cited as an example.
Integrated systems of education, science and business, the centers of innovation and technological development
and world-class professional training are created in the Russian Federation by combining different profiles of
research and educational institutions into a single system. The specificity of the activity of the participants usually
remains the same. The unifying moments in this case are the overall goals and objectives of innovation. Of course,
the operation of such educational systems places high demands on the organization of the planning of their activities
and the development of data strategies of universities. Siberian Federal University and Southern Federal University
created in the framework of the national project are the examples of such educational institutions in Russia.
1154 Andrey Vorontsov and Elena Vorontsova / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 214 (2015) 1147 – 1155

The next model of innovation infrastructure (environment) is based on the economic and social support for
individual universities leading in the Russian Federation and having adequate capacity to deliver innovation.
Belgorod State University is an example. Thus, an increasing role of the regions in the innovative development of
Russian education is confirmed.
A university educational district is the further model which is actively tried to be implemented in Russia. They
are created on the principle of integration of educational systems of different levels (from the specialized classes of
schools, to colleges and then to the University) vertically in a single complex. In the authors’ opinion, this creates
ideal opportunities for lifelong learning, giving the possibility to change individual educational trajectories, train and
improve one’s qualification at the same university. In the authors’ opinion, a university educational district is the
best model for the implementation of the strategy of lifelong learning, which corresponds to the same process in
developed countries. In addition, the main provisions of the Bologna Declaration, related to the development of
various innovative educational systems, to multi-level system of professional training and to the harmonization of
educational systems at various levels, are effectively implemented in a university districts.
An important moment in the creation of this segment is the innovation of infrastructure. There is no need to
invent something new in university districts in Russia, because the practice is widespread in Western Europe and the
United States. Thus, the experience of these countries can be successfully used in this country.
When this article was being prepared for publication it was decided at a board of regents of Moscow State
University (the main university in Russia) to establish a Science and Technology cluster (Innovation Centre) called
“Vorobyovy Gory” (2015), on the basis of Moscow State University.
“Vorobyovy Gory” (2015) contains a Center for Applied Research; problem-oriented laboratories; a biomedical
cluster with vivarium and medicines testing laboratory; nanotechnology and new materials cluster; robotics and
technology for special purposes cluster; space exploration cluster with online space monitoring center, etc.
There is no doubt that the establishment of the centre will contribute to the further development of innovative
education in Russia.

4. Conclusion

The conclusions of the research are the following:

1. In the context of global changes of the informational environment, the objective of the progressive
development of Russian society requires qualitative changes in education based on innovativeness. Innovativeness
requires a change of the objectives and educational syllabus.
2. Innovativeness in Russian higher education is currently represented by three basic tendencies:
x competence-based model as the basic approach to training;
x use of information technology;
x creation of innovative educational institutions.
3. From a functional point of view, the competence-based approach is intended to link the educational process
with the interests of employers, because specialists with a set of generic skills, not just with knowledge in a
particular area, are currently relevant at the Russian labor market.
4. According to the authors’ opinion, implementation of the competency-based model in Russia should be started
with overcoming of the disunity of subjects which causes fragmentation and limited outlook of the graduates. This
requires a deep interdisciplinary integration which can be realized in the form of integrated courses and modular
learning system.
5. Active and interactive forms of teaching promote the formation of competencies and the development of
innovative education in Russia. According to the Federal State Educational Standards of higher education in Russia,
this process is an essential part of the of basic education programs.
6. The use of information learning technology is the most promising and, at the same time, the least mastered
direction of innovative development of the Russian higher education.
7. Despite the fact that educational programs in Russia are mostly not supported by digital educational resources
and methods, Russian universities (including regional ones) in some cases have their own serious programs for
 Andrey Vorontsov and Elena Vorontsova / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 214 (2015) 1147 – 1155 1155

development of innovative educational products. The experience of Southwest State University creating dynamic
interactive workshops was an example.
8. The most important trait of development of innovative education in Russia is the creation of the innovation
infrastructure. Innovative educational institutions created by the type of “Science Cities”, integrated federal
universities, university educational districts play the main role in this realm.

Acknowledgements

We express our deep appreciation to the hosts of the conference for the opportunity to express our opinion. We
are grateful to the chairman of the conference Mrs. O. Chigisheva for the assistance with writing this article.

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